'mint julep' on Serious Eats

Okay, so maybe this drink isn't really medicine of the FDA-approved variety; I still believe in the Prescription Julep's curative properties, and dose myself with it liberally each summer to keep an assortment of seasonal malaises at bay. More

The mint julep is a brilliant cocktail, a study in contrasts. There's mint of course, flighty and effervescent. And there's bourbon, robust and complex and just a tad sweet—like a half-deserved slap from a comely Southern belle. There's nothing else to muck up the duet, save some crushed ice and a sprinkle of sugar. This ice cream follows the same principles to minty, bourbon-y nirvana. More

[Photograph: Max Falkowitz] What bourbon you use is in this ice cream is up to you. I'm partial to Bulleit, which has enough spicy rye kick to cut through an ocean of cream. But if you like it in your... More

It's almost Derby Day! Adam Bereitenstein of Mozz in Louisville, KY recently welcomed us into his family home to show us how to make the ultimate mint julep. Simple in its components, the mint julep's complexities are in the details. More

One thing that will be different is that I'll finally get to drink a real mint julep. Yup, I'm a bourbon-loving, track-going, Kentuckian-befriending booze columnist who's never had a proper mint julep. Look, I'd be all for drinking mint and complication if someone else wanted to do the herb gathering and ice shaving, but no one in my life ever has. The people who make Early Times Kentucky Whisky make a premixed facsimile, though, and the people who market it sent me a bottle. Close enough? More

Saturday is Derby Day, which means that across the country, celebratory sippers will be nipping at their Mint Juleps, and more than 80,000 of the drinks are expected to be served over derby weekend at Churchill Downs Tragically, most of these juleps are likely to suck. With a formula almost as old as the republic, the mint julep is a product of an era in which things were done much slower. Somewhat labor-intensive to properly make, a good mint julep can't be rushed, and cranking them out by the hundreds using prepared mixes and flavored syrups can only result in sadness. More